<p>I agree that I’m surprised Joel is being so stubborn on this.</p>
<p>Looks like Camille will come back.</p>
<p>The Joel/Julia storyline made me very sad. It does seem that he is just done. Her idea to pursue counseling seems appropriate and he is putting all the blame on her. She is going through a crisis regarding how she identifies herself through work and he is not supporting her through this tough time. I think they may divorce. Then the plot line will explore all that goes with dissolving a household.</p>
<p>I felt the Joel/Julia story line was very real. I love Monica Potter and am surprised some of you find her unbearable…Zeke and Camille are in such different places (I don’t mean geographically!) that I wonder how that storyline will play out. I like Sarah with Hank; can’t see her with Dr. Non Profit. though he looks similar to the father of her child in Gilmore Girls.</p>
<p>Camille is back! Joel is breaking my heart.</p>
<p>Camille and Joel are ticking me off.</p>
<p>Camille and Joel are ticking me off too!! I was surprised to see Seth!</p>
<p>Joel is acting very strange. After all they have been through to adopt–it is not a believable storyline at all.
I completely noticed where Camille and H sat in the booth–weird.</p>
<p>Did Camille look different to anybody else…new hairstyle? She looked younger in an “older person trying to look younger” sort of way. Not sure I like her new “all about me” attitude. Feel sorry for Zeke. He seemed crushed when she said she wanted to go on the trip to France in 3 months.</p>
<p>I find the Zeke and Camille storyline very real. Camille is assuming that Zeke is still not willing to change and do things with her and Zeke has (as usual) decided not to talk even though he is quite hurt that Camille is still willing to do things without him. I’m guessing that she had months of the art class people in Tuscany (isn’t that where she went?) telling her that this was her time and if Zeke didn’t want to participate in any adventures, that was his choice. I think Camille got bangs, which changed her look. </p>
<p>As to Joel and Julia, I also think that he would agree to therapy. Why wouldn’t you do that if you had kids??</p>
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<p>Well…my ex wouldn’t. It’s not unusual.</p>
<p>Camille definitely looked younger. New hairstyle (less curls) and mabkeup. She never has asked zeke to join her. She wants to go alone. As far as this new stubborn Joel, I too think it is out of character for him. I’m wondering if the stress of work etc is too much and he just wants to escape everything, but I hope his love for the kids save him. And I can’t help liking hank more and more. Clearly Adam is the sibling with the most compassion and common sense. Glad to see Seth as I love that actor.</p>
<p>Joel’s actions just seem out of character. He was a SAHD for nine years. Forget Julia; I’d think he’d try harder for the kids and go to therapy. He’s always been a good guy, unlike Camille.</p>
<p>I think they were using a filter on Camille, plus the bangs. When she first arrived home, she looked 30 years younger but by the end she looked more like her “old” self.</p>
<p>I love Seth’s voice. He’s such a cutie.</p>
<p>Hank was great last night. And Adam. Really good stuff.</p>
<p>BTW, I know on this thread that some have criticized the outbursts by Max as to how it relates to Asperger’s. Dh is an elementary-school teacher, and he said some of his Aspies do behave like Max while others don’t.</p>
<p>x-posted with shiloh, who apparently thinks just like me!</p>
<p>Yeah, Bonnie Bedelia as Camille had straightened hair and bangs, and maybe more highlights than usual. </p>
<p>I don’t understand why you all are critical of Camille. I find her attitude completely believable, and I don’t feel critical of it at all. Zeke is still trying to get her to stay put, in any number of ways, and she has made it clear that she’s not interested in that. Sure, she could ask him if he wants to come with her, but it would be a lot better if he would volunteer without being asked, and both of them know that. Or, at least, that’s my view. Zeke has gotten his way, and been catered to, for 40+ years; it’s time for him to grow up. I find Zeke a consistently interesting character, because he has areas of real insight and compassion, and areas where he’s just blind and pretty much an a-hole. So . . . like a real person.</p>
<p>The Joel and Julia story has completely spun out of control, starting with the whole snap adoption, job quit, fight about holding Victor back, etc. I don’t believe anything about these characters right now, it’s sort of a gaping wound in an otherwise great show. </p>
<p>And Erika Christensen’s limitations as an actress are really showing – she’s not selling me on Julia’s responses at all, besides looking all hurt (which she does fine). The contrast with Mae Whitman last night was huge, when they had back-to-back hysterical crying scenes. I thought Christensen had no idea what she was doing, and I completely bought Whitman’s scene, ridiculous as it was. What a job they did when they cast the original kids in this show! </p>
<p>Ray Romano . . . who knew he could really act? The Hank stuff this season is stupendous.</p>
<p>I’m surprised we haven’t talked about Amy and Drew as they are the college kids. I can’t stand that Natalie girl. She doesn’t really want Drew; she needs to move on.</p>
<p>I totally get where Camille is coming from. My comment about her not always being nice goes back to her affair days. Zeke didn’t have an opportunity to volunteer to go to France. Camille just said she was going, so there. If Camille is over Zeke – and she seems to have been for years – then she needs to just get a divorce rather than creating this whole other life without any regard to Zeke’s feelings. And, I agree that Zeke is a really interesting, believable character – so tender with Victor and his reading issues and then totally tone-deaf on wanting to sell the house.</p>
<p>I like Zeke. I think Camille is being selfish. I get that Camille wants to be more independent but Zeke offered to go with Camille to the exhibit she went to and she didn’t even give him a chance. </p>
<p>Amy and Drew are interesting. I think the Natalie girl is REALLY creepy. I really like Amy, but she really needs to tell her parents that she isn’t going back to Tufts, and I would be annoyed if my roommate’s girlfriend moved in. </p>
<p>Mae Whitman was really great, again. </p>
<p>Adam is the sibling with the most compassion, but, he sees Max and the way people treat Max, in Hank which is why he is so compassionate.</p>
<p>Yep, I’ve known a lot of long term married couples who just grew apart and didn’t have much in common after the kids were grown. (Tipper and Al Gore seem to be a public example of this.) And the thing is…I think Zeek is more willing to make changes now than he was before Camille left and he got a better sense of what living alone is like. </p>
<p>When Camille said she could work at the “studio,” did she mean for her sons…or something else? If for her sons, I thought it was a bit odd that she just assumed they’d be okay with that. And, it’s also obvious that if she’s working during those 3 months, she’s not going to spend a lot of time with Zeek. </p>
<p>I didn’t get the Amber being afraid she was like her dad story line. To me, Amber’s fear is that she’s like her mom, attracted to a guy who has a lot of redeeming qualities but has substance abuse problems and anger management issues. Good chance Seth is going to mess up Sarah’s love life again. Despite everything, there’s a connection there. </p>
<p>The Amy/Drew/Natalie story line is also interesting. I hope Drew doesn’t mess up his academic life taking care of Amy.</p>
<p>It’s hard for me to be objective about the Julia/Joel story line–it hits too close to home. That said, I think the actor who plays Joel is doing an even worse job of acting than Erika Christenson/Julia. Or maybe the story line is just a hard one to play well.</p>
<p>I thought when she said studio she meant the art studio.</p>
<p>I thought Amber’s scene with her dad was really good. Mae Whitman is such a great actress.
Drew FINALLY made a wise decision at the end- agree that Natalie is no good and definitely creepy. I hope he figures out what to do about Amy. Amy’s parents are in for a tough surprise.
The first second Camille was on I said Ugh. It looks like she had a facelift plus some other stuff. The bangs do make her look a little younger but it was everything else about her face too. She was pretty and age appropriate before.
Hank is growing on me. Julia and Joel… I can believe that the role reversals would cause problems in their marriage. I wonder if this will be a short lived storyline - they separate but then get back together quickly - or a long term one with a divorce. Has anyone even mentioned Maddie? Maybe I missed it if they did. I thought they could have done a lot more with the whole college cost, change in income/job for Adam, etc. but I guess she is happily and successfully away at school for now.</p>
<p>I know it’s “make believe”…but the Drew/Amy storyline got me wondering. Do you think if a kid missed two weeks of classes at college - at any school really, but let’s say specifically like on the show, a school the size and profile as Tufts - the school would contact the parents? Again, it’s tv I know, and I know that the Amy character is keeping in contact with her parents so they don’t catch on that she’s MIA…but would a school ever contact parents? After two weeks or more?</p>
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<p>I think this varies by school. According to Tufts’ website:</p>
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<p>When there is no university attendance policy, I think it’s unlikely anyone would contact your parents.</p>
<p>Some years ago now, a former co-worker of mine, a single mom of one, died of a brain tumor while her D was in college. It was a long, painful process. The girl came to visit mom on weekends and then went back to school, where she cut most of her classes and spent her time crying in her room. She was–understandably–a mess. </p>
<p>It was the other kids on the floor who got scared, asked her a few questions, and then contacted her uncle to tell him what was going on. He came up to to college uninvited, found out the kids were right and arranged a medical withdrawal from the college. But for the other kids’ intervention, she would have flunked out. She attended a LAC, BTW.</p>